Potential medicinal plants for CNS disorders: an overview
- 1 December 2006
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Phytotherapy Research
- Vol. 20 (12), 1023-1035
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.1970
Abstract
Although very few drugs are currently approved by regulatory authorities for treating multi‐factorial ailments and disorders of cognition such as Alzheimer's disease, certain plant‐derived agents, including, for example, galantamine and rivastigmine (a semi‐synthetic derivative of physostigmine) are finding an application in modern medicine. However, in Ayurveda, the Indian traditional system of medicine which is more than 5000 years old, selected plants have long been classified as ‘medhya rasayanas’, from the Sanskrit words ‘medhya’, meaning intellect or cognition, and ‘rasayana’, meaning ‘rejuvenation’. These plants are used both in herbal and conventional medicine and offer benefits that pharmaceutical drugs lack. In the present article, an attempt has been made to review the most important medicinal plants, including Ginkgo biloba, St John's wort, Kava‐kava, Valerian, Bacopa monniera and Convolvulus pluricaulis, which are widely used for their reputed effectiveness in CNS disorders. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords
This publication has 97 references indexed in Scilit:
- Antioxidant activity of DHC-1, an herbal formulation, in experimentally-induced cardiac and renal damagePhytotherapy Research, 2005
- Delay in progression of dependency and need of care of dementia patients treated with Ginkgo special extract EGb 761®Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift, 2004
- Hyperforin depletes synaptic vesicles content and induces compartmental redistribution of nerve ending monoaminesLife Sciences, 2004
- Composition and biological activity of traditional and commercial kava extractsBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2004
- Hyperforin modifies neuronal membrane properties in vivoNeuroscience Letters, 2004
- Therapeutic effects of herbal extracts and constituents in animal models of psychiatric disordersLife Sciences, 2004
- Use of medications to enhance memory in a large community sample of 60–64 year oldsInternational Psychogeriatrics, 2004
- The acute effects of combined administration ofGinkgo biloba andBacopa monniera on cognitive function in humansHuman Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 2002
- Safety of St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)The Lancet, 2000
- Benzodiazepine-like molecules, as well as other ligands for the brain benzodiazepine receptors, are relatively common constituents of plantsBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1989